Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises
<p>The 21st-century has seen the emergence of an interconnected and multipolar world. Processes such as globalization complicate diplomatic crises and increase their frequency as regional conflicts have global ramifications and global events lead to regional confrontations. Amid this climate o...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2019
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| _version_ | 1797111611810381824 |
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| author | Manor, I |
| author2 | Bjola, C |
| author_facet | Bjola, C Manor, I |
| author_sort | Manor, I |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The 21st-century has seen the emergence of an interconnected and multipolar world. Processes such as globalization complicate diplomatic crises and increase their frequency as
regional conflicts have global ramifications and global events lead to regional confrontations. Amid this climate of perpetual and complex crises, diplomats will increasingly be called upon to practice crisis management. This thesis aims to explore
whether the recent adoption of social media by ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) influences the management of diplomatic crises. Thus, its guiding research question is- How
do MFAs use digital tools in times of crises, and how can the use of these tools inform strategies to manage crises? The thesis postulates that during a crisis, MFAs will create
frames through which digital publics can make sense of a crisis. The thesis further postulates that by evaluating the difference between two MFAs’ frames, one can measure the scope of
relative disagreement between two governments and the likelihood of crisis escalation. To test these hypotheses, the thesis builds on the works of Erving Goffman and develops a
'frame distance' model that monitors the progression of a crisis in near-real time and identifies crisis pressure points at which diplomatic mediation may be most warranted or
effective. Two case studies are used to evaluate the applicability of the frame distance model: the use of Twitter by the U.S. and Russian MFAs during the Crimean Crisis, and the
use of Twitter by the Israeli MFA and the Hamas government during the 2014 Gaza war. An analysis of 2,012 tweets demonstrates that MFAs do in fact use Twitter to create real time frames through which a crisis may be understood. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that
by measuring the difference between two MFAs’ frames, one can identify crisis pressure points where diplomatic mediation may be most effective. Thus, the advent of online diplomacy enables diplomats to tailor diplomatic interventions to the offline progression of a given crisis, increasing the efficacy of diplomatic crisis management.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:11:20Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:93536f36-1e2c-4287-9268-3ad8c59cb716 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:11:20Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:93536f36-1e2c-4287-9268-3ad8c59cb7162023-11-29T16:28:53ZDigital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crisesThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:93536f36-1e2c-4287-9268-3ad8c59cb716Digital DiplomacyEnglishHyrax Deposit2019Manor, IBjola, C<p>The 21st-century has seen the emergence of an interconnected and multipolar world. Processes such as globalization complicate diplomatic crises and increase their frequency as regional conflicts have global ramifications and global events lead to regional confrontations. Amid this climate of perpetual and complex crises, diplomats will increasingly be called upon to practice crisis management. This thesis aims to explore whether the recent adoption of social media by ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) influences the management of diplomatic crises. Thus, its guiding research question is- How do MFAs use digital tools in times of crises, and how can the use of these tools inform strategies to manage crises? The thesis postulates that during a crisis, MFAs will create frames through which digital publics can make sense of a crisis. The thesis further postulates that by evaluating the difference between two MFAs’ frames, one can measure the scope of relative disagreement between two governments and the likelihood of crisis escalation. To test these hypotheses, the thesis builds on the works of Erving Goffman and develops a 'frame distance' model that monitors the progression of a crisis in near-real time and identifies crisis pressure points at which diplomatic mediation may be most warranted or effective. Two case studies are used to evaluate the applicability of the frame distance model: the use of Twitter by the U.S. and Russian MFAs during the Crimean Crisis, and the use of Twitter by the Israeli MFA and the Hamas government during the 2014 Gaza war. An analysis of 2,012 tweets demonstrates that MFAs do in fact use Twitter to create real time frames through which a crisis may be understood. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that by measuring the difference between two MFAs’ frames, one can identify crisis pressure points where diplomatic mediation may be most effective. Thus, the advent of online diplomacy enables diplomats to tailor diplomatic interventions to the offline progression of a given crisis, increasing the efficacy of diplomatic crisis management.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Digital Diplomacy Manor, I Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title | Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title_full | Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title_fullStr | Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title_short | Digital diplomacy in times of upheaval: how foreign ministries use Twitter during crises |
| title_sort | digital diplomacy in times of upheaval how foreign ministries use twitter during crises |
| topic | Digital Diplomacy |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT manori digitaldiplomacyintimesofupheavalhowforeignministriesusetwitterduringcrises |